JAY – On Saturday, June 24, residents will troop down the French Falls Recreation Area green, unfold their lawn chairs and unroll their blankets on the lawn and listen to Darby Sabin, a Wilton resident and Suffolk University freshman, sing. It is the first of what organizers hope will be many concerts to come.
Music in the Park is sponsored by the Jay Recreation Committee, and while donations are welcome the event itself is free. Held across Main Street from the Spruce Mountain Middle School, the event runs from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. It represents one of many events that the committee is seeking to use to draw people to French Falls.
Originally, French Falls marked the end of log drives for pulpwood floating down the Androscoggin River. Then-International Paper Company’s Otis Mill, once the largest paper mill in the world, converted thousands of cords of wood into paper each day. By the 1990s, much of French Falls was an overgrown woodlot when John Schoen, a teacher and Temple resident, cut a river walk trail with the help of his Jay High School students.
In 2014, using funding from the Land for Maine’s Future, the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program and other private foundations, the Androscoggin Land Trust purchased some 1,250 acres of forested land from Verso Paper Corp. That included the French Falls Recreation Area. In May 2015, Jay agreed to lease the 30-acre parcel from the ALT, which includes some 10 open acres, a ball field, an ice skating rink and some parking, at no cost for 40 years.
Previously, the area did not see significant traffic, outside of ATVs using it to access the nearby Whistle Stop Trail and the odd hiker. The recreation committee has been working to change that over the past couple of years. The Spruce Mountain Sled-In and Winter Family Festival was moved from its Livermore Falls location in 2016, bringing sledding and sleigh rides to the recreation area, and significant trail work has been undertaken, including the restoration of Schoen’s River Walk trail.
The recreation committee has been actively trying to improve and promote the area, with trail tours and geocaching events, improved walking paths, clean up events and improving access to the river. Dugouts have been constructed alongside the softball field, new signs have been installed and trail maps have been produced.
The Music in the Park series is the newest way to leverage the town’s investment of time and money, mostly out of the cell phone tower/wood harvest-funded recreation fund. It is one of the tried-and-true community events in Maine: invite a musician, hold a free concert and see who turns out.
Saturday’s concert will feature Sabin. Sabin, a rock and blues based singer “with a few surprises thrown in” has performed at Disney World and around the country, including Hawaii; has auditioned for “The Voice” and has played locally at the Wilton Blueberry Festival.
Residents are encouraged to bring a few chairs or blankets. Refreshments will be available for purchase.
